Laptop problem - can't find my CD/DVD drive

Factual Questions
1

I’m running XP Pro on a Latitude D600. Also, weeping tears of bitter sorrow.

A while ago I downloaded a trial version of some (reputable) software to get around the region limits on my DVD drive. My free 30 days ran out, I’m not in a position right now with a spare $25, so I uninstall the software. The problem started after I rebooted, and now whenever I try to access my CD/DVD drive, it’s not there. Try starting my DVD player? “Can’t find any CD/DVD device.” It doesn’t show up in My Computer. Poof, gone.

I go to Device Manager, and it lists it under CD/DVD, but with the little yellow exclamation point that means Congrats, idiot, you borked up your crappy Dell again!". It says: “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)”

Okay, I go to Dell’s support site, find the driver, download it, and end up with an error message saying it can’t recognize the device. I commence banging my head against the wall.

Any suggestions? Google isn’t telling me much, and the one thing I could find said more or less that reinstalling Windows was the only option, which I’m really hoping to avoid, especially as my Windows disk is at my parents’ house in New Jersey, and I am in London.

2

Do you have a system restore point prior to the installation of forementioned software?

3

Also, any xp pro OEM disk will work with your licence key, not sure about regional variations in licences distributed in the UK YMMV, I am not your tech, you are not my client, consult a tech licenced in your area.

4

I tried; didn’t work.

5

there is a procedure on newer dells that will restore the laptop to the original configuration from the boot up. be sure to back up all of your data nd programs. i am pretty sure they will be erased with the reconfiguration
lclick me

6

sorry, the link does not go directly to the page.

  1. Power the computer on.

  2. When the Dell screen appears, press and hold the <Ctrl> key on the keyboard, press the <F11> key, then release them both at the same time.
    The Starting Symantec|Dell Recovery Environment screen appears.

    NOTE NOTE: Press the keys one time only. If you press them more than once, a keyboard error occurs, and the above steps have to be repeated.

  3. When the End User License Agreement appears, click the Accept button or press the <Enter> key to indicate that you accept the End User License Agreement.
    The Symantec Recovery Disk window appears.
    * If you want to restore your computer to a backup you created, click Recover My Computer and perform the following steps:
    1. In the Select Recovery Point window, select the backup you want to restore to and click Recover My Computer.
    2. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the recovery process.

    * If you want to restore your computer to the original Dell configuration, click Recover My Computer to Original Dell Configuration and perform the following steps:
     1. In the Recover My Computer Wizard window, click Yes or press the &lt;Tab&gt; key, and press &lt;Enter&gt;.
        A second Recover My Computer Wizard dialog box appears. 
     2. Click Yes or press the &lt;Tab&gt; key, and press &lt;Enter&gt; to start the recovery process.
        The Ghost32 window appears.
        Once the process begins, it usually takes only 8 to 10 minutes to complete. When the restore is complete, the system restarts. Your software is now as it was when you first received your computer.
7

sorry, the link does not go directly to the page.

  1. Power the computer on.

  2. When the Dell screen appears, press and hold the <Ctrl> key on the keyboard, press the <F11> key, then release them both at the same time.
    The Starting Symantec|Dell Recovery Environment screen appears.

    NOTE NOTE: Press the keys one time only. If you press them more than once, a keyboard error occurs, and the above steps have to be repeated.

  3. When the End User License Agreement appears, click the Accept button or press the <Enter> key to indicate that you accept the End User License Agreement.
    The Symantec Recovery Disk window appears.
    * If you want to restore your computer to a backup you created, click Recover My Computer and perform the following steps:
    1. In the Select Recovery Point window, select the backup you want to restore to and click Recover My Computer.
    2. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the recovery process.

    * If you want to restore your computer to the original Dell configuration, click Recover My Computer to Original Dell Configuration and perform the following steps:
     1. In the Recover My Computer Wizard window, click Yes or press the &lt;Tab&gt; key, and press &lt;Enter&gt;.
        A second Recover My Computer Wizard dialog box appears. 
     2. Click Yes or press the &lt;Tab&gt; key, and press &lt;Enter&gt; to start the recovery process.
        The Ghost32 window appears.
        Once the process begins, it usually takes only 8 to 10 minutes to complete. When the restore is complete, the system restarts. Your software is now as it was when you first received your computer.
8

sorry, the link does not go directly to the page.

  1. Power the computer on.
  2. When the Dell screen appears, press and hold the <Ctrl> key on the keyboard, press the <F11> key, then release them both at the same time.
    The Starting Symantec|Dell Recovery Environment screen appears.
  3. note: press the keys one time only. If you press them more than once a keyboard error occurs and the above steps have to be repeated
  4. When the End User License Agreement appears, click the Accept button or press the <Enter> key to indicate that you accept the End User License Agreement.
    The Symantec Recovery Disk window appears.
    o If you want to restore your computer to a backup you created, click Recover My Computer and perform the following steps:
  5. In the Select Recovery Point window, select the backup you want to restore to and click Recover My Computer.
  6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the recovery process.
    o If you want to restore your computer to the original Dell configuration, click Recover My Computer to Original Dell Configuration and perform the following steps:
  7. In the Recover My Computer Wizard window, click Yes or press the <Tab> key, and press <Enter>.
    A second Recover My Computer Wizard dialog box appears.
  8. Click Yes or press the <Tab> key, and press <Enter> to start the recovery process.
    The Ghost32 window appears.
    Once the process begins, it usually takes only 8 to 10 minutes to complete. When the restore is complete, the system restarts. Your software is now as it was when you first received
9

sorry, the link does not go directly to the page.

Power the computer on.
When the Dell screen appears, press and hold the <Ctrl> key on the keyboard, press the <F11> key, then release them both at the same time.

The Starting Symantec|Dell Recovery Environment screen appears.

note: press the keys one time only. If you press them more than once a keyboard error occurs and the above steps have to be repeated

When the End User License Agreement appears, click the Accept button or press the <Enter> key to indicate that you accept the End User License Agreement.

The Symantec Recovery Disk window appears.

If you want to restore your computer to a backup you created, click Recover My Computer and perform the following steps:

In the Select Recovery Point window, select the backup you want to restore to and click Recover My Computer.

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the recovery process. If you want to restore your computer to the original Dell configuration, click Recover My Computer to Original Dell Configuration and perform the following steps:
In the Recover My Computer Wizard window, click Yes or press the Tab key, and press Enter.

A second Recover My Computer Wizard dialog box appears.

Click Yes or press the Tab key, and press <Enter> to start the recovery process.

The Ghost32 window appears.

Once the process begins, it usually takes only 8 to 10 minutes to complete. When the restore is complete, the system restarts. Your software is now as it was when you first received

10

i apologize for the multiple posts. none of them looked like they got through from this end.

11

My next concern would be that this program may modify firmware for your CD/DVD handling and even a full reinstall will not help, cheap fix might be to reinstall program and pay for it. If not I would have to do some serious digging on the software and dell CD rom firmware modding to see if this even can be fixed.

12

Update: Problem fixed.

A guy on another message board suggested uninstalling the physical drive itself and rebooting, which did not work. He then sent me something to paste into a notepad file, save it as a .reg file, and run that. I tried it, and even without rebooting, my drive was working perfectly.